


> 













A 


DISCOURSE, 


COMMEMORATIVE OF THE LIFE 


OF 


C3II .A.RLES OrOODYIT A 1 

THE I H A?" E H T O CL- 


1* RE A Oil ED IN 'HIE 


NORTH CHURCH, NEW HAVEN, 


JULY 8th, I860. 

nv 


KEY S. W. S. DUTTON, T). D. 


-- 

From live New Kv^landor lor August, 1SGO. 

-♦ «<>- 4 - 


NEW HAVEN’: 

PRINTED BY THOMAS J. STAFFORD. 


1800. 







































A 

DISCOURSE, 

COMMEMORATIVE OF THE LIFE 


CHARLES GOODYEAR, 

THE IHVEHTOB. 


PREACHED IN THE 

NORTH CHURCH, NEW HAVEN, 


JULY 8th, 1860, 


BY 


REV S. W. S. DUTTON, D. D. 


•-♦♦♦- 

1-Croin tlie New Englander for August, 1060. 

-- 


NEW HAVEN: 

PRINTED BY THOMAS J. STAFFORD. 


I 860 . 





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DISCOURSE. 




“For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, 

WHO CALLED HIS OWN SERVANTS AND DELIVERED UNTO THEM HIS GOODS. And UNTO 
ONE HE GAVE FIVE TALENTS, TO ANOTHER TWO, AND TO ANOTHER ONE ; TO EVERY MAN 
ACCORDING TO HIS SEVERAL ABILITY, AND STRAIGHTWAY TOOK HIS JOURNEY.— Matt. 

XXV, 14, 15. 

“And Moses said unto the children of Israel, see, the Lord hath called 

BY NAME Bf.ZALEEL, THE SON OF UrI, THE SON OF FIUR, OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH ; 

And he hath filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, 

AND IN KNOWLEDGE, AND IN ALL MANNER OF WORKMANSHIP, AND TO DEVISE CURIOUS 

works.”— Exodus xxxv, 30, 31, 32. 

In the first of these passages from the sacred Scriptures we 
are taught that God gives to men endowments, varying in 
kind and degree, and commissions them to use them, accord¬ 
ing to their nature and amount, in his service. In the second 
we have an instance of a particular kind of endowment, given 
to one who was divinely called to exercise it for God’s pur¬ 
poses, viz, the endowment of inventive genius . 

On one of the da} T s of the last week, from this Sanctuary, 
where he was accustomed to worship and to unite with fellow 
disciples in sacred communion at the table of the Lord, we 
bore to its burial the' body of one of the most ingenious, 
useful and worthy inventors of this or any other age— Charles 
Goodyear. And he was one who recognized his peculiar en¬ 
dowment of inventive genius as a divine gift, involving a 
special and defined responsibility, and considered himself 
called of God, as was Bezaleel, to that particular course of 




4 


invention to which lie devoted the chief part of his life. 
This lie often expressed, though with his characteristic mod¬ 
esty, to his friends, especially his religious friends. •With¬ 
out presumption and in great meekness, he regarded himself 
as having a divine vocation to his peculiar work, as thoroughly 
and as reverently as did ever ancient prophet, or modern min¬ 
ister or missionary of the Gospel. And he was actuated and 
sustained throughout by a strong and sacred sense of duty to 
God to fulfill this mission. It is this feature which gives to his 
life its chief interest in Christian minds, and makes it well 
worthy of contemplation and discourse on this sacred day, in 
this sacred place. For, in God’s providence and grace, exam¬ 
ples are given for our instruction in the modern as well as the 
ancient church. 

A full account of his life will not be expected within the 
limits of a single discourse. My object will be simply to set 
forth the tacts and experiences of his history, so far as will 
illustrate his ruling spirit, viz : that of one who labored not 
chiefly for himself, but as the commissioned servant of God 
and friend of man. 

Ilis work as an inventor was very great and very beneficent. 
His merit in this respect was declared, in the able and just de¬ 
decision of the Commissioner of Patents of the United States, 
in the case of the renewal of his patent, to “ be the same in kind 
with that of the most illustrious inventors who have appeared 
in the world, and by that of few of them, surpassed in degree .” 

There would not be time, and this is not the place, to set 
forth, in any detail, the nature or the extent and beneficence 
of Mr. Goodyear’s inventions. Suffice it to say, in general 
and summary terms, that a product of natural vegetation, lite¬ 
rally inexhaustible, since it comes from forest trees which 
grow in a belt of ten degrees each side of the equator around 
the whole globe—a product before almost worthless, and 


5 


which had for years resisted many and very expensive at¬ 
tempts to adapt it to useful purposes, such attempts all ending 
in pecuniary disaster—has been rendered by his inventive 
genius an article of inestimable value and of indispensable 
utility. By that process, in which his chief invention consists, 
this natural and almost useless product is converted into a new 
material, called “ elastic metal and it was applied by him in 
many forms, some of them almost universal, to secure and pro¬ 
mote the life, health, comfort, usefulness and happiness of man¬ 
kind ; and it is capable of further useful application to an ex¬ 
tent to which we can set no limits. Already the various modes 

t 

of mechanical industry founded upon it give employment to 
thousands, and supply beneficently the wants of millions in all 
parts of the civilized world. 

I. The ruling and truly religious feature of Mr. Goodyear’s 
character already announced, and which this discourse is 
designed to set forth, will be naturally illustrated, in the first 
place, by a brief sketch of his early life, and of the varied 
labors and trials through which he persevered till his first 
great success; while, at the same time, a reasonable biograph¬ 
ical interest will be satisfied. 

Mr. Goodyear was born in New Haven, Dec. 29, 1800, 
the son of Amasa and Cynthia (Bateman) Goodyear, and 
a descendant of Stephen Goodyear, who was the associate of 
Gov. Eaton, and after him the head of that company of Lon¬ 
don merchants who founded the colony of New Haven in 
1688. In his early childhood, as early as his eleventh year, 
he received deep and strong religious impressions, which re¬ 
sulted in his consecration of himself to God, and in his desire 
and purpose to become a minister of the gospel. But the 
condition of his father’s business constrained him to give up 

• that cherished purpose. His father was one ol the earliest 
manufacturers in this country of hardware, and during his 


* 


G 


boyhood, when he was not at school, lie was occupied with the 
various branches of his father’s business. From the age of 
seventeen to twenty-one he served a mercantile apprenticeship 
at the hardware business, with the firm of Rogers & Brothers, 
in Philadelphia, at that time one of the most extensive whole¬ 
sale importing houses in the United States. During the next 
five years he was engaged in a partnership with his father, in 
the manufacture of hardware, in this state. Some important 
inventions had been made by his father for the improvement 
of agricultural implements ; and his observation of the good 
done by these, especially in lightening the burden of severe 
labor, contributed to the inventive bias given to his life. 

At the age of twenty-six he removed to Philadelphia, and 
engaged in a mercantile firm, the first that was established in 
this country for the sale of domestic hardware,—a firm con¬ 
sisting of his father, brothers and himself, and connected with 
their manufacturing business in Connecticut. This was re¬ 
garded by many as a visionary enterprise ; for to that time 
the whole trade in hardware in this country had been in im¬ 
ported articles. For the four following years he was known 
in the commercial cities as the pioneer in domestic hardware; 
and such was his success that a handsome fortune was accu¬ 
mulated by the firm. In consequence, however, of too ex¬ 
tended operations in different states, too liberal credits, and 
heavy losses in 1830, they were obliged in that year to suspend 
payment. On account of the amount of their property in¬ 
vested in manufacturing establishments, and especially that he 
might retain and complete several unfinished inventions in 
that business, which in their incomplete condition would be 
of no value either to himself or his creditors, it was thought 
best to continue the business by extension of credit. But 
such were the disadvantages to be contended with that entire 
failure was the result. During the next ten years, under the 


hr 

( 


laws tlien existing, lie was repeatedly imprisoned for debt. 
But notwithstanding, he applied himself assiduously to com¬ 
plete his inventions and improvements in articles of hardware, 
and from the sale of one of them, which he completed while 
confined upon the jail limits, within a year or two after his 
failure, he derived temporary means of subsistence for himself 
and family. “ During these years, his anticipations,” he 
writes, “ of ultimate success never changed, nor were his 
hopes for a moment depressed.” Indeed, he testifies that 
from his trials he acquired firmness for his hopes, and also the 
lasting benefit of having proved, by his experience, that, with 
a clear conscience and a high purpose, a man may be happy 
within prison walls as well as in any other (even the most 
fortunate) circumstances in life. 

Under these disadvantages, in order to discharge indebted¬ 
ness, he relinquished his interest in one after another of the 
important articles of manufacture, which w r ere very lucrative 
in his former business. But he says, that in reflecting upon 
this, “ he is not disposed to repine, and say that he has plant¬ 
ed and others have gathered the fruits. The advantages of a 
career in life should not be estimated exclusively by the stand¬ 
ard of dollars and cent3, as is too often done. Man has just 
cause for regret only when he sows, and no one reaps.” This 
language truly'indicates the spirit of the man throughout. 

Soon after Mr. Goodyear’s reduction from affluence to pover¬ 
ty by his failure in the hardware business, he came to the de¬ 
liberate conclusion to make invention his employment in life . 
To this, by his knowledge of his own aptitude for that profes¬ 
sion, by his past course as an inventor, by his circumstances, 
and by a strong inward impulse, he felt divinely called, as the 
profession in which he could most honor God and benefit man¬ 
kind. 

When he was yet a school boy, lie says, in his own narrative, 


8 


his attention was strongly drawn “ to the wonderful and mys¬ 
terious properties of the substance called India Rubber. A 
thin scale peeled from a bottle sometime afterward attracted 
his notice, and suggested to his mind that it would be very 
useful as a fabric, if it could be made uniformly so thin, and 
could be so prepared as to prevent its adhering together and 
becoming a solid mass, as it soon did from the warmth and 
pressure of his hand.” By such little indications it is that 
God’s providence often guides to great and beneficent results. 

About the year 1831 or 1832, soon after Mr. Goodyear’s mis¬ 
fortune in Philadelphia, the manufacture of gum elastic or 
India Rubber w^as begun in the United States. He turned his 
attention at once to some manufactured articles, which he found 
in the Hew York store of the Roxbury company—a company 
formed near Boston. lie took one of the articles, a life preser¬ 
ver; in which he made a manifest improvement. The agent, 
pleased with this, advised him to give his attention to the im¬ 
provement of the material / informing him that such were its 
intrinsic difficulties that the business must prove a failure, un¬ 
less they could be removed, so great had been the losses from 
this source to the different companies. His resolution was then 
taken. He began his experiments. He soon found, however, 
that he had a very inadequate idea of the difficulties to be 
overcome in the objectionable qualities of the material, espe¬ 
cially that by which it stiffens in the cold and melts in the heat. 
He found that many, chemists and others, ingenious men, had 
long experimented, and given it up, utterly baffled. But he 
took courage, he says, “ from the reflection, that what is hid¬ 
den and unknown, and cannot be discovered by scientific re¬ 
search, will most likely be discovered by accident, if at all, and 
by the man who applies himself most perseveringly to the 
subject, and is most observing of everything relating thereto.” 

Blithe was under great disadvantages for making his experi- 


9 


i 


ments. He was utterly without money—worse than that, was 
deeply in debt ; had a young family dependent on him for 
support ; and the ill success thus far of manufactures in the 
Bubber material threw suspicion and the air of quixotism over 
the whole subject; and, moreover, his experiments required 
some money. Fortunately, however, no great amount. By 
selling and pawning articles of furniture and clothing, even to 
those of necessity, he went on. In a narrative prepared by 
himself in recent years, with the reading of which I have been 
favored, he says, “ Fortunately the substance is one, with which 
in experimenting fingers are better than any other mechanical 
power of the same force ; and these were the only mechanical 
power of which the writer had command during the first two 
years of his experiments, and that by which he mixed and 
worked many hundred pounds of gum, afterwards spreading it 
upon a marble slab with a rolling pin. Thus, owing very 
much to the plastic nature of the substance, in extreme pover¬ 
ty, he was able to persevere in his course against all obstacles.” 

But these obstacles were very great and painful. lie had no 
means of obtaining even daily food. His family were in abso¬ 
lute want ; sickness and death threw their baleful shadow over 
his abode of poverty ; and he had not wherewith even to bury 
his child. Still he persevered. The patience of the friends 
who aided him became exhausted. They told him that he had 
been an accomplished merchant, and an ingenious manufac¬ 
turer of hardware, and could earn in that way a handsome sup¬ 
port ; and that he was, unnecessarily and almost insanely, 
bringing distress on himself and fatnilv, and embarrassment on 
his friends. Still he persevered, firmly persuaded that in this 
direction was a boundless field of usefulness, to which he was 
divinelv called. 

He succeeded in making some articles of utility and beauty 
during the first two or three years, for which he received, in 


10 


1835, medals from the American Institute, and from the Me¬ 
chanics’ Institute, in Hew York. Still, such were the objec¬ 
tionable qualities of the material, and the consequent imperfec¬ 
tions of the manufactured articles, that none of them remunera¬ 
ted him, or provided for his wants. Time after time he seemed 
to be entirely successful, and had the hope of repaying the 
friends who had aided him ; and then in a few months he 
would find his articles all melted together, or ruined by some 
intrinsic difficulty in the material. From whom then could he 
get again the means of further experiment, or of daily food ? 

He was accustomed at this time, as the severest test of his 
manufactured articles, to wear them upon his person ; and this 
led to a remark, which illustrates both his poverty and the 
common opinion of his enthusiasm. A gentleman, being 
inquired of how he (Mr. Goodyear) might be recognized, 
answered, “ If you meet a man who has on an india rubber 
cap, stock, coat, vest, and shoes, with an india rubber money 
purse, without a cent of money in it , that is he.” lie records 
one instance, in which he went from home to experiment, 
leaving as collateral security for the rent of a cottage, among 
other things, the linen spun by his wife. During his absence, 
these articles were sold at auction for the payment of rent! 

In the year 1S36, he seemed to have met with success, in 
discovering what has since been called the “ acid gas pro¬ 
cess,” one of his three most important inventions in preparing 
the material, but not the chief—a process of tanning the mate¬ 
rial, so that it is capable of a pliable and beautiful fabric. 
For the fabrics made by this process, he obtained, in that year, 
medals from the American Institute, and the Mechanics’ Insti¬ 
tute, of Hew Fork. lie also, in the same year, obtained for 
this process a patent from the United States Government. 

And here the spirit of the man appears in the record which 
he makes of his objections to taking patents, and of his reasons 


11 


on the whole for doing it. He says, “ It would have been 
grateful to the inventor if none of his labors, to which he had 
so long confined himself, had needed to have been made sub¬ 
jects of patents. It is repulsive to the feelings, that improve¬ 
ments relating to science and the arts, and especially those of 
a philanthropic nature, should be made the subjects of money¬ 
making and litigation, by being patented. The apology he 
has to offer for doing that which was repugnant to his feelings, 
is the unavoidable necessity of the case. At different periods 
during a course of years, he was unable to prosecute his experi¬ 
ments for want of pecuniary means, and was consequently 
obliged to obtain them of his friends upon the prospective 
value of his inventions, through such legal advantage as was 
to be had under the patent laws.” This is language which 
does honor to his heart, and his head also. 

His success now seemed certain, not only to himself but to 
others. A friend agreed to let him have the means to demon¬ 
strate, by the manufacture of goods, the utility of the improve¬ 
ments, of which specimens only had as yet been produced. A 
large factory and machinery were engaged by that individual, 
near Hew York, for the purpose. But soon after that friend, 
overwhelmed bv the disasters which befell the mercantile 

*y 

community in 1836, failed. He was unable to proceed. And 
this inability being erroneously attributed by the public mind 
to the ill-fated business of india rubber, and to want of merit 
in Mr. Goodyear’s improvement, Mr. Goodyear was left appar¬ 
ently in a more helpless condition than ever—without the 
means either of proceeding in his business or of subsistence. 

Of this period he relates an incident, which, with his 
characteristic spirit, he records as “ an unexpected relief by a 
kind Providence.” He was then in Hew York city. Speak¬ 
ing of himself (as throughout this narrative he modestly does) 
in the third person, as u the writer,” he says, “ He had put in 


12 


his pocket a small article much valued, and sallied forth in the 
morning for the purpose of obtaining with it food for the day. 
Before reaching the pawnbroker’s shop, he met a creditor, 
from whom he expected to receive sharp, if not bitter, re¬ 
proaches. His astonishment was so great that he could hardly 
trust his hearing, when he accosted him with the inquiry what 
he could do for him. On being satisfied that no insult was in¬ 
tended, he replied, without telling him that he was in search 
of food, that the sum of fifteen dollars would greatly oblige 
him. It was instantly handed to him, and the article which 
had been designed for the pawnbroker remained in the hands 
of the owner, to relieve a greater necessity on a future occa¬ 
sion. He was now, for sometime, at the mercy of the pawn¬ 
broker ; every article that could be made available was pledg¬ 
ed, until he was relieved, for the time, by the loan of one 
hundred dollars from a friend.” 

In the summer of 1836, by the help of a friend, he removed 
with some of his best specimens to Roxburv, Mass., where 
business in this material had formerly been largely carried on. 
Details as to various measures to complete, and bring to the 
favorable notice of the public, his improvements, and as to his 
removals from place to place, driven by utter poverty, must 
be omitted. Suffice it to say that again, and again, and again, 
very frequently, he seemed to have conquered success; and 
then by various causes was disappointed and utterly prostrated. 
One cause was that there had been in the few previous 
years, especially in that part of Hew England, a fever of 
excitement and speculation as to india rubber manufacture, 
resulting in utter failure, and in losses so great and so wide¬ 
spread in the community, that anybody who would speak of 
anv further effort in that direction was intolerable. Almost 

no one would hear or endure him. The whole communitv 

«/ 

was like a burned child on the subject. Another reason was 



13 


tliat difficulties, before unseen or not understood, were, by 
experience, developed in the material. Repeatedly our friend, 
by the greatest effort in that state of the public mind, would 
obtain from some one the means of making some articles to 
demonstrate the utility of his improvements, and it would be 
found that from some cause, that could not be known except 
by new experience, they would in a few months become worth¬ 
less, to the prostration of his credit and that of his invention. 
Yet he still applied himself with unabated ardor to detect and 
remove the causes of difficulty, until, in the year 1839, he 
made his greatest discovery, called “ the vulcanization of 
rubber^ lie found that this substance, which will only be 
melted by the application of heat in quite high degrees, will, 
by the application of heat in very high degrees, with the addi¬ 
tion of some other substances, become a new material , with all 
its former difficulties removed—retaining the qualities of elas¬ 
ticity, pliability, and imperviousness to water ; and acquiring 
the long sought quality of insensibility to cold, and to heat 
except in very high degrees. This, when at length demon¬ 
strated, was the subject of patent, and established his reputa¬ 
tion and success. 

But during the year before he made this discovery, and 
indeed the year after he made it, and was well satisfied of its 
value, Mr. Goodyear was in his greatest distress; and at times 
it seemed as though he would perish from poverty, anxiety 
and hardship, and his discovery would perish with him! 

A few incidents from his own narrative will convey some 
idea of what he and his suffered at this period : 

During the winter of 1839- 1 d0, a year after he was fully 
satisfied of the value of his discovery, “ in one of those long and 
severe snow storms which in Yew England sometimes occur, 
when even those who are blessed with health are confined 
within doors, he found that his family were without food or 



u 


fuel. Ilis feelings were that the face of nature was a fit em¬ 
blem of his condition—cold and cheerless. But the recollec¬ 
tion of a kind greeting received some time previous from an 
individual who resided some miles distant, and nearly a 
stranger, (this was in Woburn, Mass.,) induced him, enfeebled 
by illness, to attempt to reach his house through the storm. 
After being by turns exhausted by walking through the driv¬ 
ing snow and rested upon its drifts, he reached the dwelling 
of this individual,* and stated to him briefly his condition, 
and the hopes he entertained of success from his discovery, if 
he should ever be able to convince others of the facts relating 
to it. He was cordially received, and not only supplied with 
a sum adequate to his immediate wants, but also furnished 
with facilities for continuing his experiments on a small scale.” 

Again, speaking of the very unfavorable state of things at 
this period for the promulgation of his discovery, he says : 
“ He felt, however, in duty bound to beg in earnest, if need be, 
sooner than that the discovery should be lost to the world and 
to himself. In the event of the writer’s death it could hardly 
oe expected that his theory, which he afterwards found it so 
difficult to establish, could survive him. The invention v T as 
fully appreciated Ivy him at that time, and was considered as 
valuable as it now proves to be. * * * Want of sympa¬ 

thy, want of means to go forward with experiments, or even 
to provide sustenance from day to day for those dependent on 
him, only increased the solicitude consequent on the state of 
suspense as to the result of those efforts. How^ he subsisted 
at this period, charity alone can tell y for it i 3 as w r ell to 
call things by their right names, and it is little e}se than 
charity when the lender looks upon what he parts with as a 

* “ 0. B. Coolidge, Esq., of Woburn, Mass., to whom a tribute of gratitude is 
due.” 



15 


gift. The pawning or selling some relic of better days, or 
some article of necessity, was a frequent expedient. His 
library bad long since disappeared ; but shortly after the dis¬ 
covery of this process (his great invention) he collected and 
sold at auction the school-books of his children, which brought 
the trifling sum of five dollars. Small as the amount was, it 
enabled him to proceed. At this step he did not hesitate. 
The occasion and the certainty of success warranted the meas¬ 
ure, which, in other circumstances, would be sacrilege.” 

Wishing at one time to take some specimens to Hew York, 
where he hoped for a more favorable reception, “ he received 
assurance from an individual in Boston, once employed by 
him, that on coming to Boston he would lend him fifty dollars, 
whereby his family could be maintained during his absence, 
and his expenses paid to Hew York. Arriving at Boston, he 
was disappointed in this. lie remained at the hotel from 
Monday until Saturday, hoping to obtain from some source 
the sum required. He at last applied, where he had reason 
to expect it, for the sum of five dollars, with which he might 
return to his family. This was refused. At night, his bill at 
the hotel was presented. Mortified and chagrined, he walked, 
meditating on his condition, till late at night.. He strayed 
into East Cambridge and stopped at the house of a friend, 
who received him kindly and made him -comfortable for the 
night. Early next morning he walked ten miles to his home, 
and was met at the door by one of the family, saying that his 
youngest boy, two years of age, who was in perfect health 
when he left home, was dying. He thanked God for being 
turned back to the rescue of his family ; for they had already 
been denied the subsistence promised by a dealer when he 
left.” 

The United States Commissioner speaks of the evidence be¬ 
fore him that Mr. Goodyear’s family, at this time, had to endure 


1G 


privations almost surpassing belief, “ being frequently without 
food in their house, or fuel in the coldest weather ;” “ repre¬ 
sented as gathering sticks in the woods and on the edges of 
the highways, with which to cook their meals, and (in sum¬ 
mer) digging the potatoes of their little garden before they 
were half grown, while one of his hungry children, in a spirit 
worthy of his father, is heard expressing his thanks that this 
much had been spared to them.” 

Indeed, the full account of the hardships endured by himself 
and family during that year, when he had actually attained the 
knowledge of this great secret of nature for the world’s wel¬ 
fare, would be as painfully interesting as the harrowing reci¬ 
tals of a tragic romance. Truly with him it was darkest just 
before day—in one sense, even after dawn! 

I ought here to turn aside to say that, during all these 
struggles and trials, Mr. Goodyear had what can be well de¬ 
scribed only by the Scriptural word “ helpmeet,” in the wife 
of his youth, Clarissa Beecher. He could confide in her dis¬ 
cretion as well as her affection. To her intelligence and wis¬ 
dom, and her eminent faith and piety, he could entirely en¬ 
trust, amid his absorbing occupation and frequent absence 
from home, the care and culture of his children. And in all 
the alternations of his fortune, and especially in its deepest de¬ 
pressions, he experienced in her the gentleness, the patience, 
the equanimity, of an angel, and more than the sympathy of 
an angel, even the sympathy of a true Christian woman and 
wife. She lived to share the joy of his complete success. 
And going with him to Europe, to partake with him in new 
trials and new triumphs, the result of her long labors and sac¬ 
rifices culminated there in her death. Her body, with that 
sweet, serene, upborne expression of face, which now beams 
in our memory, was buried in a foreign land. But one of the 
directions of her husband’s last days was that it should be re- 


17 


moved, to sleep, till the morning of the resurrection, beside 
his own. 

I ought not to be prevented by his presence from also saying 
that Mr. Goodyear always found scientific counsel and hopeful 
encouragement from an eminent professor of science* in Yale 
College, whose learning and labor have ever been at the dis¬ 
posal of his generosity. And he always gratefully appre¬ 
ciated it. 

But valuable for his support as were these aids, and those of 
many other friends, some of them in iTew Haven, who cannot 
here be mentioned, Mr. Goodyear’s chief support through 
those years of toil, privation, suffering and sorrow, was his 
faith in God, and his loyalty to the divine call which he heard 
to this peculiar work. He saw in this immense and nearly 
worthless product of nature, boundless capability for the wel¬ 
fare of man, and for that progress in God’s material kingdom 
which, under his providence, moves in even step with the 
progress of his spiritual kingdom. By the ear of reason and 
faith he heard God’s voice, calling him to be “the interpreter 
and minister” of it for human use. And that voice he desired 
and determined to obey, counting no sacrifice or suffering dear 
in the sacred service. His inventive work was his religion, 
and was pervaded and animated by religious faith and devo¬ 
tion. He felt like an apostle commissioned for that work ; and 
he said to his niece and her husband, who went, with his ap¬ 
probation and sympathy, as missionaries of the gospel to Asia, 
that he was God’s missionary as truly as they were. 

By the aid and kindness of a brother-in-law, now residing in 
this city,f who for a time furnished the means to conduct the 
manufacture, Mr. Goodyear, in the autumn of 1841, was ena¬ 
bled to proceed with his improvements, and was just about to 


* Benjamin Silliman, Sen. 


f William DeForest, Esq. 





18 


demonstrate practically the value of his invention, at Spring- 
field, when he was thrown into prison for debt, and interrupted 
in his work just as that work was blooming into its consum¬ 
mate flower. This induced him to obtain a release by the bank¬ 
rupt law\ This law, he says, was “ odious” to him. “ He 
had always opposed it, and firmly resolved not to accept of any 
advantages it offered.” But he now saw the necessity of it in 
order that he might be free to employ his powers for human 
welfare, and for the benefit of his creditors. And as soon as he 
was enabled by pecuniary success, considering himself dis¬ 
charged by that law from no moral obligation, he began to look 
up and pay his debts, which he did, in the course of a few years, 
to the amount of thirty-five thousand dollars. 

This first part of the subject, the illustration of Mr. Good- 
year’s ruling religious spirit, found in his early life and in his 
struggles and privations till his first full success, has so grown 
on my hands, that the remaining parts of the subject must be 
given in outline, rather than with the fullness which I desire 
and had purposed. 

II. I proceed, then, to observe, secondly, that this ruling be¬ 
nevolent and religious spirit of Mr. Goodyear is illustrated by 
his continued and life-long devotion to the improvement of his 
chief inventions, and to their application in a great variety of 
modes, to human welfare. 

When he received his patent, he might, without any more 
effort, have discharged ail indebtedness, and accumulated large 
wealth, by his receipts from licenses under that patent. And 
many, not to say most men, would have yielded to that temp¬ 
tation. But he saw that his invention v r as capable of being 
applied for human benefit in a multitude of forms, each oi 
which forms needed inventive genius for its construction. And 
he heard the same voice of philanthropy and piety calling him 
to the applications of the invention, which had called him to 


19 


the invention itself. And so, for the last sixteen years, really 
without any rest, he has been employed in inventing new ar¬ 
ticles for human use, out of his invented material. And this 
he has done, not for money, for all the money almost he could 
get he has devoted to the same beneficent purpose, keeping 


himself poor, notwithstanding his very large receipts. His be¬ 
nevolent and religious principle, and his inventive genius to o 
have been illustrated in this, as conspicuously, perhaps, as 
during his persevering struggles for his great invention. lie 
says of himself, that “ independent of all pecuniary consider¬ 
ations, he has taken great satisfaction in trying to invent and 
improve articles of necessity and convenience for the use of 
man.” “ Whatever (he adds) of misfortune may hereafter 
befall the inventor, he will have the satisfaction of knowing 
that his efforts have been successful, and of witnessing on every 
side, and in every civilized country, the growing importance 
of the numerous branches of manufacture already established, 
and which may in his lifetime be established, under these 
inventions and improvements.” 

Mr. Goodyear went to Europe in 1852, and returned in 1S58. 
His object was the establishment of his patents, and the intro¬ 
duction and improvement of the articles manufactured under 
them. lie had already received for his inventions the highest 
honors at the Exhibition of the World’s Industry in London, in 
1851. lie received the highest honors, also, for his inventions, 
at a similar Exhibition in Paris, in 1S55. From a desire to 

. i 

have his inventions suitably appreciated, and especially from 
a patriotic desire to have the American department honorably 
represented in these Exhibitions of the World’s Industry, he 
expended very large sums (almost a fortune) upon them.* He 
had a return of honor for himself, and honor for his country. 


* On the Exhibition at Paris alone he expended $50,000. 






20 


But this was all that he received. He could not obtain, what 
he richly deserved, his patents ; but others reaped unjustly the 
reward of his inventions. And not only this, he was impris¬ 
oned for debt, both in France and in England, suffering in mind 
most keenly ; and he returned to his own country poorer than 
when he left it ; indeed, absolutely poor, had it not been for 
the renewal of his patent for seven years, very justly obtained 
soon after. 

III. The ruling spirit of Mr. Goodyear is illustrated, in the 

third place, by his special devotion to the humane instead of 
the lucrative bearings of his inventions. His question was not 
what applications of my inventions will make most money ? 
but what will most promote human welfare, especially what w T ill 
best preserve health and secure life ? The United States Com¬ 
missioner justly says : “ A large portion of these fabrics is inti¬ 

mately connected with human comfort and the preservation of 
human life. Hot to enumerate more of the articles produced 
by this process, it would be hazarding nothing to say that the 
shoes and wearing apparel, perfected by it, and now cheaply 
and abundantly made, and almost universally in use, have saved 
thousands from a premature death, and may save millions in 
the ages which are to come.” I may add, that Mr. Good¬ 
year, especially of late years, has paid great attention to the 
invention of articles for the relief and comfort of invalids and 
the sick, and of cellular garments for security of life on the 
w T ater; and all in utter disregard of his own profits. 

IV. And, once more, we find a fourth illustration of Mr. 
Goodyear’s ruling, benevolent and religious spirit in his work, 
in the fact that he persevered in his w'ork under constant suffer¬ 
ing from miserable health. Most men, with such health as 
Mr. Goodyear has had for the last twenty or thirty years, 
would have considered themselves excused from all labor, cer¬ 
tainly from all except that absolutely necessary for subsistence. 


21 


Yet he has constantly performed, in making his chief inven¬ 
tions, in his numerous ingenious applications of them, in his 
attention to obtaining and defending his patents, and in 
supervising the varied and general interests of the whole 
work, an almost incredible amount of labor ; and this not for 
himself—certainly not chiefly for himself—but as the servant 
of God and the friend of man. 

There was one fault in Mr. Goodyear, which ought to be 
mentioned, both for the purpose of impartiality, and also for 
the purpose of giving such excuse for it, as is presented in his 
nature, circumstances and peculiar history. He was, especially 
in his later years, improvident; so that, though in the receipt 
of large sums of money, he was yet often embarrassed with 
debt, to a degree which was a discomfort to his family and 
friends, and a disadvantage to his creditors. This undoubtedly 
was a fault. Yet we should judge him according to his nature 
and circumstances. He was always ready and glad to pay 
debts. And no one ever asked payment in vain, when he had 
any money. But he had become accustomed to being in debt 
during the many years of his necessity, when he could not 
avoid it. He had the enthusiasm of genius, and counted 
money nothing in comparison with success in a humane in¬ 
vention, and for that purpose used it profusely, and so became 
habituated to profuse expenditure. Then he felt justified in 
this free use of it for his inventions, though he w T as indebted, 
because he felt confident that his object was benevolent, and 
that the final result would be the discharge of all pecuniary 
obligations. When we consider these things, and add to them 
the fact, that among his first acts, after his first full success, 
was the searching out and paying debts, to the amount of 
thirty-five thousand dollars, from which he had been legally 
discharged, we shall be assured that with regard to indebt¬ 
edness he was, in heart and intention, honorable and upright.. 


22 


Still liis improvidence was a fault to be regretted. Ilis charac¬ 
ter would have been more complete if this had been otherwise. 

There was in Mr. Goodyear an admirable combination of 
gratitude and generosity, and also a beautiful regard for his 
kindred and relatives. When the days of his prosperity at 
length came, he remembered those who had aided him in his 
adversity and extremity. And he was not satisfied with a full 
payment of their dues. But when any of them were in pecu¬ 
niary misfortune he aided them with a princely generosity. 
Indeed, some of them with their families were really supported 
by him for years. lie, also, as soon as he was able, afforded 
modes of remunerative employment and ways of advancement 
for many of those who were allied to him or his by kindred. 
In his manifold experiments, and through his influence in con¬ 
nection with the extensive manufacturing under his patents, a 
large number of them have been employed, and have found 
avenues to lucrative and independent business for themselves. 
And for all objects of benevolence he had an open heart and 
hand, giving to them cheerfully and unsparingly, whenever 
he had money at his disposal. 

Mr. Goodyear’s remarkable charity and forbearance tow r ard 
those who had wronged him, should be noticed. He had been 
greatly injured, and that by those whom he had greatly bene¬ 
fited. On this point the United States Commissioner thus 
speaks: 

“ The public stipulated with him that he should peacefully 
enjoy for fourteen years the monopoly created by his patent, 
and, had he been permitted to do so, he would no doubt long 
since have realized an ample remuneration; but, so far from 
this having been the case, no inventor probably has ever been 
so liarrassed, so trampled upon, so plundered by that sordid 
and licentious class of infringers known in the parlance of the 
world, with no exaggeration of phrase, as ‘pirates.’ The 


23 


spoliations of their incessant guerilla warfare upon his de¬ 
fenseless rights have unquestionably amounted to millions. 
In the very front rank of this predatory band stands one who 
sustains in this case the double and most convenient character 
of contestant and witness ; and it is but a subdued expression 
of my estimate of the deposition he has lodged, to say, that 
this Parthian shaft—the last that he could hurl at an invention 
which he has so long and so remorsely pursued—is a fitting 
finale to that career which the public justice of the country 
has so signally rebuked.” 

Yet through the whole narrative which Mr. Goodyear has 
written, there is not one severe or unkind word, even towards 
the man who so greatly defrauded him, and who compelled 
him to the trouble, anxiety and enormous expense of constant 
litigation. 

His humility, reverence and loyalty towards God were 
most exemplary. One who knew him thoroughly, says that 
“ the most marked features of his religious character were 
deep consciousness of the evil of sin, and of his nothingness 
before God. Self-reliant as he appeared as a business man, 
his soul was more humble before God, and he seemed more 
deeply conscious of his dependence upon him and need of 
forgiveness, as well as of forbearance, than any other person 
with whose religious experience I have any intimate acquaint¬ 
ance.” He might, if any among us dependent and sinful 
creatures might, have felt pride in the beneficence of his 
works. But he allowed himself nothing in that respect. And 
in his last days, when reference was made to his useful works, 
he said : “ What am I ? To God be all the glory.” 

The piety which sustained him through the peculiar strug¬ 
gles and trials of his life, sustained him in death. He died in 
faith. 

U I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write. 


% 


24 


Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, from henceforth, 
yea, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors, and their 
works do follow them.” 

And now only a few words more, to indicate some of the 
lessons of this remarkable life. Most of them lie on the sur¬ 
face, and need but a word to bring them to your thoughts. 

But one of them, which is specially illustrated by an inci¬ 
dent of Mr. Goodyear’s life that has not yet been brought to 
your notice, should be more distinctly developed. That is, 
God’s providence in the working and results of inventive 
genius. 

Mr. Goodyear’s chief discovery, the vulcanization of rubber, 
was immediately caused by what is termed an accident. The 
United States Commissioner, to whose able and eloquent decis¬ 
ion I have so often referred, thus describes it: “In one of those 
animated conversations so habitual to him, in reference to his 
experiments, a piece of India rubber combined with sulphur, 
which he held in his hand as the text of all his discourses, was 
by a violent gesture thrown into a burning stove near which he 
was standing. When taken out, after having been subjected 
to a high degree of heat, he saw—what it may be safely affirm¬ 
ed would have escaped the notice of all others—that a complete 
transformation had taken place, and that an entirely new pro¬ 
duct, since so felicitously termed ‘elastic metal,’ was the 
consequence. When subjected to further tests, the thrilling 
conviction burst upon him that success had at length crowned 
his efforts, and that the mystery he had so long wooed now 
stood unveiled before him. Ilis history in this respect is alto¬ 
gether parallel with that of the greatest inventors and discov¬ 
erers who have preceded him.” 

Mr. Goodyear, in his account, though he justly claims that, 
owing to his long search for such a result, and his intense at¬ 
tention to everything that might produce it, he perceived it, 


$ 


25 


when others would not—in fact, others thought nothing of it 
when their attention was directed to it—he perceived it, and saw 
that the great object was gained ; yet, he reverently adds, that, 
as it was not what any known facts or principles would have 
indicated, a it should be considered as one of those cases 
where the leading of the Creator providentially aids his crea¬ 
tures, by what are termed accidents, to -attain those things 
which are not attainable by the powers of reasoning he has 
conferred upon them.” This is a pious, but true and sublime 
conclusion. God presides over and aids Inventive genius. To 
its keen eye, peering earnestly into the darkness, he shows the 
light. 

For the rest, the lessons are plain, and very practical and 
urgent for us. 1. In the first place, find out what your pecu¬ 
liar endowments are, what talents are entrusted to you, 
what you are called to do. 2. Then, in the second place, do 
it—do it industriously and earnestly. But this is not enough. 
3. In the third place, do it unselfishly, benevolently, relig- 
* iously, as the servant of God and the friend of man. 

But, finally, the special lesson of this personal history is 
this : that every man should regard him.self as called of God 
to his life’s work, the particular thing for which he is fitted , 
by a sacred calling , a sacred commision. You are called of 
God to be a lawyer, a physician, an inventor, an artisan, a 
merchant, a teacher, or to an}^, even the humblest work, 
sa truly as an apostle, a minister of the gospel, or a missionary, 
is called of God. And your work, if done aright in spirit and 
outward form, is as truly divine. Regard yourself, then, as 
called and commissioned of God for your life’s work; and do it 
with a sublime and ennobling sense of being God’s appointed 
officer. Do it with loyalty, with faith, and with fidelity. 







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